August 09, 2005

EBBP: To Give & To Receive

The last week or two has seen care packages from food bloggers winging their way across the U.K. and Europe as part of Euro Blogging By Post and, by all accounts, has been quite a success. Andrew (of Spittoon) masterminded the entire endeavour, from soup to nuts, and has even posted a round-up already, amazing guy that he is.

I was lucky enough to receive a package lovingly put together by Pille at Nami-Nami. Pille is Estonian, lives in Edinburgh, and makes a mean mayonnaise cookie. It's something I'd never tried (or even heard of!) before, but the texture- chewy and crunchy at the same time- made quite an impression. Also included were a couple of varieties of Pille's signature 'cheesy feet', which are quite possibly the cutest cheese biscuits I've ever seen...they really are little feet!

She also included a wonderful ash butter knife, direct from Estonia, which instantly became our favourite utensil EVER. It has a wonderful scent, and fits in your hand perfectly, which makes it aces in my book.

From Edinburgh, a jar of Orange & Whisky Marmalade from Edinburgh Preserves, and Uncle Roy's Moffat Meadows, which is a wonderful seasoning rub made of flower petals, herbs, seeds and salt. I also was lucky enough to get a wee informational pamphlet on vegetarian haggis from MacSween of Edinburgh, which immediately put a smile on my face. Friends far and wide just better be prepared to shut it this Robbie Burns' Day, I'll tell you that for nothing.

Last, but certainly not least, Pille included a very interesting Estonian candy bar called Kamatahvel. I have really never ever had anything like it before, and tasting it again now doesn't help a bit...it defies description for me. I just had a neighbour taste it, and he said that he'd need time to think about it and get back to me! If you ever have the opportunity to give it a try, I highly recommend it. In the meantime, head on over to Nami-Nami and let Pille tell you about it her way, which I guarantee is better than mine. She's just started blogging, really, and doing a bang up job already...thanks so much for everything, Pille!

My other EBBP partner was Zabeena, from A Lot On My Plate. She lives in the U.K. as well, and has also just started blogging recently. My original intention was to send her a fabulous chocolate dessert, which shall remain unnamed here- as I completely forgot to include the baking soda which was required. Next!

Instead, I decided to make a box of some of my favourite American baked goods. First included was a dozen oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, a big winner in our house and such a quintessentially American dessert. Next, a bag of homemade granola, which included dried cranberries from my home state, Massachusetts. Finally, a baggie full of the dry portion of pancake mix (this recipe included walnuts and oats), and a bottle of maple syrup from Vermont. On any given week, we have all of those things, so I thought they'd make up a good package for Zabeena. I knew that Zabeena was happy with her package, because she emailed me a note just after receiving it. But then I read the write-up on her blog about it and realized that she really loved it...awwww, thanks Zabeena! As I said before, Zabeena is new to blogging, so please stop on over and make her feel welcome, o.k.?

This has been a really great event to take part in, and a fantastic way to 'meet' new bloggers. Apparently there is another EBBP coming up in the Autumn, so if you're food blogging in Europe and you want to take part, keep your ears and eyes open! I'm not sure who will be hosting it next time around, but I'm sure everyone will have a big enough heads up to participate if they want to. Viva La EBBP!

UPDATE: Andrew from Spittoon has just mentioned that the next EBBP will have a launch date of 24 September, plenty of time to get the word out and make it an even bigger success than this one!

5 Comments

Dear Moira - thank you for such a lovely write up! I'm flattered that you enjoyed the parcel so much - and impressed that you searched for links on Estonian wooden crafts!! I guess I must stock up on those knives and spoons for future EBBP events..
And you were extremely eloquent in your description about the kama bar:))))
It was an absolute pleasure to be your EBBP partner!

Hi Pille...you are so welcome! Yes, you must stock up on those wonderful wooden utensils, as I'm sure anyone who received one would be thrilled!

I know you must be kidding about my Kama bar description, but I'm going to update this as soon as I can come up with something better. The neighbour that I mentioned is going to have his wife try some tonight and see what she has to say!

Hi Andrew...ah, such refreshing modesty! ;-) I'll update the post to reflect the date of the next EBBP...thanks for letting me know.

This sounds like a lot of fun -- I think I'll try to get in on the next American round of blogging by mail. Just wanted to let you know that I've missed you and your lovely posts, and I'm so glad to see you blogging again...